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I believe he said Lilliard is not as proven because his team never made the tourney.

He said he shouldnt even be in consideration at 8 because he missed the tourney by one game, lacked athleticism, size, etc. Compared him to Jimmer I think, or maybe it was CJ Watson? He evaluated his team instead of the player.

Getting back to DeRozan though..

Originally Posted by gwrighter

Irrelevant, we're not discussing valuing college players based on college performance. NBA on NBA performance.

There are definitely parallels in their situations though, no?

If you're wondering why Im bringing up this comparison it's because you constantly make excuses for Demar's down year because of the lack of talent around him, saying, he's young, he'll do better with better players around him and without defenses focusing on him, blah,blah..

It's odd that you show such faith in a player that has statistically shown to be below average in the NBA, but absolutely hated Lillard as a prospect because even though he tore up competition, he too was surrounded by 0 talent. He didn't "prove" himself by making the tourney, but DeRozan has also proven nothing and you're fine with handing him $40M?

I have no idea what basis you have for evaluating players when you constantly change how you judge them?

Every so often, you get to take in a move that more or less helps you sign off on your opinion regarding a general manager. In the case of Toronto's Bryan Colangelo, on the job for nearly seven years now with two playoff trips to his credit, we've got our move. DeMar DeRozan is a nice guy that can create some fun flushes at times, but to pay him eight figures a year on average in advance of what was going to be a turn as a restricted free agent next summer is just absolute madness. The chorus wants to remind you that DeMar is just 23, but there have been plenty of wing scorers at age 23 over the last decade and a half that have done far more with their 200-some games to that point, and DeRozan's inability to stick out in any significant area beyond scoring sufficiently enough after shooting quite a bit has remained a constant from his teens to current age.

The move is so laughable and distressing that you almost wonder if Colangelo is salting the sod for the next GM to take over. If the Raptors re-sign Kyle Lowry to a rate concurrent with his production, Lowry would join Andrea Bargnani as the only two Raps making eight figures in 2012-13; and yet the team will be over the cap once the first year of DeRozan's extension (starting at around $9 million a year, we're guessing; unless the Raps tried some Bulls-like upfront move with his yearly salary) starts to tick away. Toronto boasts a solid enough rotation that a great (and we do think he is "great") coach in Dwane Casey can do good things with, but there is nothing in DeRozan's game that has us anticipating a jump in production that would justify anywhere near what he'll be set to make. NBA players grow in small strides before tailing off past their prime, and DeRozan would have to make a huge jump along the lines of his Slam Dunk contest attempts.

All in advance of his potential restricted free agency in 2013. It's true that the shooting guard position has become increasingly hard to fill of late, an odd turn considering the plethora of wings that seemed to dot the NBA two decades ago, but you don't attempt to retain a player like DeRozan at this price merely because you think some other team is going to make a mistake in the summer and snatch him away. Either match that attempted snatch, gross, or let the guy walk. Don't — as Colangelo did with Bargnani a few years back — attempt to trump up a blown lottery pick's worth by paying him nowhere near what he's worth.

This is why we have lockouts. Teams bidding against absolutely nobody to pay a player what he isn't worth. DeRozan had no leverage here, and Toronto didn't seem to care. Keep these sorts of deals in mind the next time NBA owners kvetch about salary structures gone wrong.

45% for a SG is above the league average. Add in the 17.4 PPG scoring and that's near all star production. Check out the number of SG's the past 2-3 seasons and there's probably less than 10 players in those 3 years than could've scored 17.4 PPG on 45% shooting.

If you're wondering why Im bringing up this comparison it's because you constantly make excuses for Demar's down year because of the lack of talent around him, saying, he's young, he'll do better with better players around him and without defenses focusing on him, blah,blah..

It's odd that you show such faith in a player that has statistically shown to be below average in the NBA, but absolutely hated Lillard as a prospect because even though he tore up competition, he too was surrounded by 0 talent. He didn't "prove" himself by making the tourney, but DeRozan has also proven nothing and you're fine with handing him $40M?

I have no idea what basis you have for evaluating players when you constantly change how you judge them?

There is a difference for players that are in the league, and players that aren't. Even when Jonas was tearing up same age competition and holding his own vs. NBA players(all stars, MVP's) in world tournaments people still labeled him as unproven, and rightfully so. There's always that bust potential.

It's one thing to tear it up in the minors, another to do it in the League. So once again it's irrelevant.